Suspension with spring bias acting on conductive adhesive bond for improved reliability

ABSTRACT

In an electrical connection to an electrical component in a disk drive suspension, an electrical lead is adhered to a component using conductive adhesive and is also mechanically pressed up against the component using a bias mechanism. The bias mechanism may be a spring finger that is welded to the suspension, or it may be a stainless steel finger that is formed integrally with the trace gimbal assembly. The resulting bias force that presses the contact against the component surface reduces the small failure rate that can occur when the conductive adhesive separates from the component&#39;s surface as a result of stress such as induced by thermal cycling.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/664,846filed Mar. 21, 2015, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/969,148 filed Mar. 22, 2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of suspensions for disk drives. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to the field of electricalconnections within disk drive suspensions.

2. Description of Related Art

Magnetic hard disk drives and other types of spinning media drives suchas optical disk drives are well known. A disk drive suspension is theassembly that aligns the read/write head over the correct place on thespinning data disk, in order to write data to, and read data from, thedesired data track on the disk.

Both single stage actuated disk drive suspensions and dual stageactuated (DSA) suspension are known. In a single stage actuatedsuspension, only a voice coil motor moves the actuator arm with theslider affixed to the distal end. In a DSA suspension, as in U.S. Pat.No. 7,459,835 issued to Mei et al. as well as many others, in additionto the voice coil motor which moves the entire suspension, at least onesecondary actuator, often referred to as a microactuator, is locatedupon the suspension in order to effect fine movements of the magnetichead slider thereby maintaining proper alignment over the appropriatedata track on the spinning disk. The microactuator(s) provide much finercontrol and a higher bandwidth of the servo control loop than does thevoice coil motor alone which is capable of effecting relatively coarsemovements of the suspension and hence the magnetic head slider. Leadzirconium titanate is one of the broadly used intermetallic inorganiccompounds possessing piezoelectric properties and is commonly referredto as PZT. PZTs are often used as the microactuator motor, althoughother types of microactuator motors are possible.

Various structures and methods have been proposed for making therequired electrical connections to the PZT microactuators. One structureand method is to bond a gold plated copper contact pad that is part ofthe suspension's flexible circuit to a gold plated (metalized) surfaceof a PZT using conductive epoxy.

In the discussion that follows, it will be assumed without explicitlyreciting that the copper contact pad is coated with gold or some otherprotective metal, and that the PZT surface is metalized with gold orsome other relatively non-corroding metal.

Another structure and method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,570,688issued to Hahn et al, which is owned by the assignee of the presentinvention. That structure and method use a stainless steel spring topress the copper contact pad against the PZT surface optionally withconductive grease between those two surfaces, and/or with a protectivepad between the spring finger and the contact pad in order to eliminateor reduce fretting. The copper contact pad and the PZT's electrode arethus physically pressed together and physically held together. Theconductive grease enhances the electrical connection between them. Inthat proposal the bias pressure provided by the spring eliminates theneed for conductive epoxy between the two parts.

The industry continues to seek ways to improve the quality of theelectrical connection to the PZT microactuator, to improve thereliability of that connection, and to reduce the cost of making it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The connection method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,570,688 involving abias spring and conductive grease has not shown to be 100% satisfactoryunder all conditions, and thus has not displaced the use of conductiveepoxy for the contact pad-to-PZT connection. Furthermore, a conductiveepoxy connection has also been shown to be less than 100% satisfactoryunder all conditions. The inventors of the present application havediscovered that the conductive epoxy connection from gold plated copperto gold plated PZT material suffers from reliability problems particularupon thermal cycling in which the temperature is varied from −50° to+150° C. and the difference in coefficients of thermal expansion betweenthe PZT material and the epoxy causes physical stresses to be placed onthe epoxy bond, sometimes creating a small gap between the silver fibersin the conductive epoxy compound and the circuit's gold surface, thusincreasing the electrical resistance of the bond sufficiently to producea very small albeit measurable defect rate in the parts after thermalcycle testing.

The inventors have further discovered a way to reduce the incidences ofthis failure mechanism. According to a first aspect of the invention,the electrical and mechanical bond is made using a conductive adhesivesuch as conductive epoxy, and a spring bias is applied to press togetherthe gold plated copper and the gold plated PZT (or stainless steel) withthe epoxy therebetween, with the spring bias forcing pressing thosecomponents together before, during, and/or after the epoxy curing step.Applying a bias before and/or during the epoxy curing step presses thesilver fibers up against the gold surface and thus creates a strongerbond than in the absence of such a bias. Furthermore, applying a biasafter the epoxy curing step and during operation of the device helps tohold the silver fibers against the gold surface, thus allowing thosefibers to better resist tearing away from the surfaces during operationespecially during thermal cycling.

In one embodiment an additional spring structure comprising a springmetal is welded to the suspension.

In another embodiment a spring finger or arm can be integrally formedwith the trace gimbal. It is important to manufacture the device so thatthe spring finger is at a consistent height above the PZT and pressesagainst the PZT with a consistent force. By laser adjusting the heightof the end of the spring finger, and using automated optical inspection(AOI) feedback to achieve the desired height and the desired springtension, the repeatability and hence reliability of those parameters andthe bond joints can be improved.

Regardless of whether the spring is an external structure that isaffixed to the suspension such as by welding or is integrally formedwith the trace gimbal, or takes the form of some other structure, thespring configuration and hence spring bias can be adjusted as desiredusing laser adjustment techniques and automated optical inspectionfeedback, thus improving the repeatability and reliability of theresulting bond joints.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be further described belowwith reference to the drawings, in which like numbers refer to likeparts. The drawing figures might not be to scale, and certain componentsmay be shown in generalized or schematic form and identified bycommercial designations in the interest of clarity and conciseness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a DSA suspension having a PZT and acopper contact pad biased against the PZT according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the suspension of FIG. 1 taken alongsection line 2-2.

FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a suspension in which a spring finger isintegrally formed with the trace gimbal assembly.

FIG. 3B is a detailed view of the area indicated in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the suspension of FIG. 3A taken alongsection line 4-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The bias force for use in the invention can be provided using structuresand methods such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,570,688 issued to Hahnet al. which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIG. 1is a top perspective view of a DSA suspension assembly 5 having a PZT 14and a copper contact pad 22 biased against the PZT according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional viewthereof taken along section line 2-2. Contact pad 22 including coppercontact pad 32 lies at the end of circuit finger 20 which is part of thesuspension's flexible circuit 18. A copper signal trace within flexiblecircuit 18 carries the PZT driving voltage to copper contact pad 32.Other traces within flexible circuit 18 define the signal lines to andfrom the read/write head. The trace gimbal assembly 16 includes theflexible circuit 18 and the gimbal (not shown) which supports theread/write head for writing data to, and reading data from, the datastorage media such as a spinning magnetic hard disk. A bent stainlesssteel finger 40 having a dimple 42 formed in it acts as a spring and iswelded to the suspension at weld points 41. Spring finger 40 helps topress copper contact pad 32 against the top surface PZT 14. Spring 40provides the desired bias force to bias copper contact pad 32 againstconductive adhesive 38 and towards the electrode of PZT 14. Optionalinsulating coverlayer 34 can be included over copper contact pad 32.Optional protective pad 36 helps to protect against fretting. Anadditional ground spring 80 can be welded to the suspension body part 3at weld point 81 to press against the ground electrode of PZT 14.Conductive epoxy 15 also provides a ground path from the PZT's bottomelectrode to the grounded suspension part 3, which in this particularillustration is the base plate but could also be the load beam 7 or thegimbal. Also seen in the figure are suspension spring or hinge 6 andload beam 7. These figures of the present application are similar toFIGS. 4 and 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 8,570,688 although the present versionemploys conductive adhesive such as conductive epoxy instead of theconductive grease shown and described in that patent.

Similarly, the arrangement shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of U.S. Pat. No.8,570,688 in which a dimple is used as a spring feature, could beadapted for use with the present invention, again with conductive epoxybeing applied between the copper contact pad and the PZT electrodesurface.

FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a suspension in which two spring fingers20 are integrally formed with the trace gimbal assembly (TGA) 16. FIG.3B is a detailed view of the area indicated in FIG. 3A. FIG. 4 is asectional view of the suspension of FIG. 3A taken along section line4-4. Trace gimbal assembly 16 includes the gimbal (not shown) whichsupports the head slider and allows it to freely rotate in each of threerotational axes, and also includes the flexible circuit 18. Flexiblecircuit 18 typically comprises a metal support layer 28 such asstainless steel, an insulative layer 30 such as polyimide, and aconductive layer such as copper or copper alloy for carrying electricalsignals including the read/write signals to and from the head slider,and the activation voltages for activating the PZT microactuators 14.

Spring finger 50 is integrally formed of the metal support layer 28,typically stainless steel, of flexible circuit 18. More generally,spring finger 50 could be formed of any spring metal. The spring finger50 constitutes a second finger.

First and signal-carrying finger 20 includes a copper contact pad 32formed of the signal conductive layer of the flexible circuit, andpolyimide 30 or other insulator from the flexible circuit's insulativelayer. At the end of finger 20 a stainless steel ring 29 constitutes anisolated island of stainless steel electrically isolated from most ofthe rest of the stainless steel layer 28 of trace gimbal assembly 18.That stainless steel layer 28 is typically grounded to the suspensionbody. Copper contact pad 32 is part of copper signal conductive layer.Conductive adhesive 38 completes the electrical path from copper contactpad 32 at the end of the copper signal conductor to the positive ordriven electrode of PZT 14. The opposite surface of the PZT whichconstitutes the ground electrode is grounded to the base plate 3, theload beam 7, or whichever metal part of the suspension to which it ismounted, typically via conductive adhesive 15 such as conductive epoxy.The PZT 14 mounting may include non-conductive structural epoxy 19.Typically, a cover layer (not shown) is applied over the copperconductor for electrical insulation and anti-corrosion purposes.Signal-carrying finger 20 carries the driving voltage that activates PZT14. In a typical suspension the two PZTs 14 on opposite lateral sides ofthe suspension assembly are poled or are arranged oppositely, such thata single common voltage is applied to both PZTs thus causing one toexpand in the x-direction while the other contracts in the samedirection. That arrangement creates a push-pull effect to rotate theportion of the suspension that is distal to the PZTs and thus moves thehead slider in an arc over the disk platter.

In this embodiment, spring finger 50 is separate from signal-carryingfinger 20, and both fingers are generally curved and extend generally inparallel with each other until they meet at their ends, with the end ofspring finger 50 pressing down against copper contact pad 32, pressingthat contact pad down against the conductive adhesive 38 and toward PZT14.

The stainless steel or other spring metal of which spring finger 50 isformed must be electrically isolated from copper contact pad 32 in orderto avoid shorting the PZT's driven electrode to grounded suspension bodypart 3. One way to accomplish the required electrical isolation is shownin the figures, in which the stainless steel portion 58 of spring finger50 is electrically isolated from stainless steel ring 29, and isphysically connected to it by a short copper finger 52 with polyimide 30electrically and physically separating the copper and stainless steellayers. Thus, spring finger 20 includes both a majority portion 58thereof that includes stainless steel, and a short minority portion 52thereof of copper, and another section having both stainless steel andcopper separated by polyimide 30, with all of those materials integrallyformed with, and as part of, the suspension's trace gimbal assembly 16including its flexible circuit 18. The physical bias force provided byspring finger 50 is transferred at least in part through copper section52. Copper section 52 could be reinforced by being made thicker than therest of the copper layer, especially if the TGA is made using anadditive method in which case it would be relatively easy to addadditional copper or some other material to copper section 52 in orderto transmit the bias force from spring finger 50 to copper contact pad32.

Spring finger 50 can have one or more bends 57, 59 formed therein toadjust both the height of the ends of the springs and the bias forcethat will be applied against the contact pad. The bends can be formedand adjusted using mechanical bending, by laser adjustment, or otheradjustment techniques before and/or after the PZT attachment step. Laseradjustment involves using a laser to locally heat and partially melt apiece or section of metal, and then cooling the metal, to impart apermanent bend in the metal without applying a mechanical force to bendit. Such techniques are disclosed generally in the literature includingU.S. Pat. No. 5,228,324 to Frackiewicz which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. By laser adjusting the height of the end ofthe spring finger 50, and using automated optical inspection (AOI)feedback to achieve the desired height and hence the desired springtension, the repeatability and hence reliability of the bond joints canbe improved.

Although the stainless steel material used in the trace gimbal assemblyis relatively thin, springs made from the stainless steel layer of thetrace gimbal assembly after laser adjustment can provide several mg ofbias force, which is enough to make a significant difference in thereliability of the bond of the copper bond pad which has a surface areaof only around 0.09 mm². The total bias force applied by the stainlessspring or other bias mechanism is preferably at least 1 mg which isapproximately 1×10⁻⁵ N, and more preferably at least 2 mg which isapproximately 2×10⁻⁵ N. The bias pressure applied at the copper bond padis preferably at least 10 Pa, and more preferably at least 20 Pa.

Laser adjust techniques and other adjustment techniques can also beapplied after the conductive adhesive on the PZT has been partiallyhardened and/or fully hardened in order to provide a desired amount ofbias during operation of the device.

Although the invention has been described with reference topiezoelectric microactuators, it will be appreciated that the inventionis applicable more generally to other types of microactuators, andindeed to more generally still to making electrical connections tovarious types of electronic components than just microactuators.

We claim:
 1. A suspension for a disk drive comprising: a beam; aread/write head located on the beam for writing data to, and readingdata from, a spinning data disk; an electrical component affixed to thesuspension; a trace gimbal assembly, the trace gimbal assembly includinga metal support layer, an insulative layer, and a conductive layer forcarrying electrical signals, the conductive layer including anelectrical contact pad; wherein the trace gimbal assembly furtherincludes: a first finger extending to the electrical component, thefirst finger including a signal trace formed of the conductive layer ofthe trace gimbal assembly for electrically connecting to the electricalcomponent, and further including the electrical contact pad, theelectrical contact pad being affixed to the electrical component; and asecond finger separate from the first finger, the second finger alsoextending to the electrical component and to the contact pad, the secondfinger having at least a portion thereof formed of the metal supportlayer of the trace gimbal assembly and being electrically isolated fromthe contact pad.
 2. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim 1wherein the second finger is bent and provides a mechanical biaspressing against the contact pad.
 3. The dual stage actuated suspensionof claim 2 wherein the second finger further comprises a portion formedfrom the conductive layer of the trace gimbal assembly, the conductivelayer portion of the second finger being electrically isolated from themetal support layer portion thereof, the mechanical bias beingtransmitted at least in part through said conductive layer portion.
 4. Asuspension for a disk drive suspension comprising: a beam; a read/writehead located on the beam for writing data to, and reading data from, aspinning data disk; an electrical component affixed to the suspension; aflexible circuit for electrically connecting to an electrode of theelectrical component, the circuit including an electrical contact pad; aconductive adhesive mechanically and electrically bonding the electricalcontact pad to the electrical component's electrode; and a biasmechanism that provides a mechanical bias pressing the contact padagainst the conductive adhesive and toward the electrical component'selectrode.
 5. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim 4 wherein thebias mechanism is a metal spring.
 6. The dual stage actuated suspensionof claim 4 wherein the bias mechanism is a metal spring that is weldedto the suspension.
 7. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim 4wherein the bias mechanism comprises a stainless steel finger of a tracegimbal assembly.
 8. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim 7wherein the stainless steel finger that provides the bias to the contactpad is integrally formed as a part of a trace gimbal assembly whichincludes the contact pad.
 9. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim7 wherein the stainless steel finger that provides the bias to thecontact pad is separated horizontally from and extends generallyparallel to a conductive signal trace of the trace gimbal assembly thatelectrically connects to the electrical component's electrode.
 10. Thedual stage actuated suspension of claim 7 wherein the stainless steelfinger has a bend in it.
 11. he dual stage actuated suspension of claim10 wherein the bend in the stainless steel finger occurs at a locationat which no insulative layer covers the stainless steel finger.
 12. Thedual stage actuated suspension of claim 10 wherein the bend in thestainless steel finger was produced by mechanically bending the finger.13. The dual stage actuated suspension of claim 10 wherein the bend inthe stainless steel finger was produced by laser bending.
 14. The dualstage actuated suspension of claim 4 wherein the bias mechanism pressesthe contact pad against the electrical component with a bias force of atleast 1×10⁻⁵ N.
 15. In a disk drive suspension including an electricalcomponent mounted on the suspension, a method of operationallyconnecting the electrical component to a disk drive suspension, themethod including: adjusting a spring; and bonding an electrical contactpad to the electrical component using conductive adhesive, the springbiasing the contact pad against the conductive adhesive and toward theelectrical component.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the springadjusting step comprises adjusting the spring before bonding theelectrical component to the suspension.
 17. The method of claim 16wherein the spring adjusting step comprises using automated opticalfeedback to adjust the spring to a desired height.
 18. The method ofclaim 16 wherein the spring presses against the electrical contact padagainst the conductive adhesive before the conductive adhesive hascompletely hardened.
 19. The method of claim 15 wherein the springadjusting step comprises adjusting the spring after bonding theelectrical component to the suspension.
 20. The method of claim 15wherein the spring adjusting step comprises laser adjusting.